Last Word
by MT Pocketts
Summary: Post AC Reno goes into a bar and drinks as always, but soon runs into an old friend. [RenoTifa, fluffy]


**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of these characters, I'm not making any money off of this, blah blah blah.

**Author's Note: **I've never written a Final Fantasy fic before… Actually, I've never played any of the games before. Just happened to see "Advent Children" and fell in love with Cloud and Reno… So yeah, forgive me if I mess anything up?

This is going to be a little One-Shot section for my Final Fantasy VII drabbles, see each story for summaries. Enjoy!

"_The Last Word"_

_Reno/Tifa_

_Summary: __Reno stops into the bar for a drink and runs into an old acquaintance. Short, fluffy._

He checked his watch again, as though he needed a reminder that his bald-headed partner had left an hour ago. He also didn't need a reminder that at this rate he would be late for work in the morning, and very hung over.

The red-head tipped another cup of sake down his throat. Work would deal with it.

"Reno, I think you're done if you want to be able to walk home," the barkeep pointed out when Reno set down his cup.

"Come on, we both know taxis are more than happy to have my business," Reno sent a grin at the barkeep, who rolled his eyes at the Turk.

"At the rate your tab is going, you won't be able to afford one."

Reno shook his head, ignoring how it made his head spin, and took the bartender's advice. He rose from his barstool, simultaneously pulling out a cigarette and his lighter. The flame would not seem to stick as he staggered from the bar--right into one of the tables behind it.

"Oh damn," he grunted and backed away from the table, pocketing his lighter and puffing the lit cigarette before looking up.

"Geez Reno, and I thought you were careless when you were sober," a female voice teased him. That caught his attention and he looked up to see none other than Tifa Lockhart sitting right in front of him.

"Sometimes its just more fun to 'bump' into people," he removed the cigarette from his mouth, allowing a small smirk to roll across his lips. "Why are you here anyways, I thought you worked somewhere like this?"

She glanced to the side and shrugged her shoulders. "Sometimes its just nice to get away from it."

"From the everyday, mundane family life crap?" he suggested and she scrunched her nose. Reno guessed that he'd hit the issue head on and tried not to smile for beginning to figure her out.

Tonight, work could definitely wait.

"Maybe I should go, I do need to open tomorrow," she began to pick up her things, pointedly avoiding Reno's gaze.

"What's with the change of heart? Can't talk about the boring life with Strife?" he could hear the barkeep snicker at his pathetic rhyme but it was quickly covered by a fake cough. Tifa hardly noticed.

"I missed that before, you're not just more careless. You're more of an ass, too." She got up and straightened her skirt before deliberately walking past him.

"Tifa," he stopped her with a hand firmly gripping her upper arm. She paused, although they both knew she could have easily thrown him into the bar without breaking a nail. "I'm not trying to upset you. Whenever I see you, you look so lonely, something isn't right there."

She snorted and shook her arm free of his grasp. "You're right. Aeris isn't there."

He watched her walk up to the counter and pay for the few drinks she'd had before exiting. She had a much shorter walk than he did, not to mention she was more sober.

"What are you waiting for?" the barkeep seemed to read his thoughts. "You've never been the type to let a lady have the last word before."

"Shut up," Reno muttered and followed Tifa out the door.

---

Tifa walked quickly through he streets, feeling the soft buzz in her mind slowly fade. Why tonight, of all the nights, did Reno have to show up? Normally, he was the typical annoying ex-enemy. Tonight he was the drunken smart ass. Of all nights, he chose tonight to show up and remind her of what was missing. What she couldn't replace, and what she couldn't have because of that.

We're all haunted by love; by the one we've lost or the one we simply can't have.

And damn it, Reno had to hit the bulls eye with it too. Tifa bet he didn't even know why tonight was different, why Cloud had insisted on taking Denzel and Marlene to the park today. 'To get out of the house' he had claimed.

Tifa knew better. It was the anniversary of Aeris's death. Cloud needed a distraction.

So did Tifa.

"You can't run away from it," she jumped as Reno's voice came from behind her. "Or in your case, looks like you're running to it." He was leaning casually against a doorway, although she guessed it had more to do with keeping her from seeing how drunk he really was. She just glared at him, a silent threat suggesting he go.

"Reno, you don't know what you're talking about," she murmured.

"Don't I? I know what I see," Reno had walked up to her now, right into the danger zone, and was only a scant few inches away. "Right now, I see you. And I see how much you're hurting from not being seen. "

She wanted to pull back, she wanted to slap him, she wanted to strangle him or just break his face on the concrete below her. But she found herself holding back, because he was right. She hid her hurt at home, wore a cheery smile. Reno could see it, of all people, he could see _her_.

It only seemed natural that then he leaned in and captured her lips with his. A soft, tender expression of wanting and understanding. Tifa found herself melting into his embrace, entranced by possibility.

Reno pulled back, smiling softly at her. She stared up at him with wide eyes, wondering what he would do next. Surprisingly, he turned and walked away from her. She had needed to feel what she had been lacking, and he had given that to her.

But as he walked away, she still felt so empty…

----

Reno walked slowly away from where he had left Tifa, the light of the moon at his back and a darkened archway the door to his way home. He knew she was attention starved, and he knew he was likely taking advantage of the situation--even as he was drunk.

But if he had calculated correctly, within about three steps he would see if she was truly deprived or not.

Three…

Two…

One.

Reno gasped in surprise when he found himself pinned to the closest building, Tifa's lips pressed hotly against his own. When she finally let him come up for air, she smiled up at him happily.

"I always get the last word…" Tifa murmured before kissing the red-head once more.


End file.
